What is happening to our leaders?

"These are troubled times." These words have been uttered or written over and over and have referenced virtually every generation. And in each instance they're applied to a unique time and situation but the underlying problems are often quite similar.

Is that the way of the current times? Are the underlying problems similar? Maybe. But the people we are looking to and relying upon to address seem stunningly different.

The history of America is wrapped around a lone ideal. A desire for liberty. To be free from the government's oppressive weight and able to rise to one's own level of achievement.

Our leaders were committed to protecting our liberty. They disagreed, and loudly, with each other at every turn, but the ideal was always embraced. They were statesmen. They possessed a moral compass that they relied on to lead. When we voted for a candidate you knew where he or she stood.

It ain't necessarily so today. We saw Arlen Specter switch parties because he knew he couldn't get elected in Pennsylvania as a Republican. A four-term senator from the keystone state was always a liberal Republican but at one time had a solid base and was even mentioned among the party elite for nationwide office. What happened? What about the people in Pennsylvania who said "Arlen Specter is my man"? What happens when politicians have no ideals to embrace, no moral compass to guide them?

In Florida, Charlie Crist failed in his bid to win the Republican nomination to Senate, so he promptly became an independent, removed all pro-life reference from his website, bashed the Arizona immigration law, and laughed when asked whether he would return campaign contributions from Republican constituents. No ideals or moral compass will get in Crist's way, but is that good for Florida voters or for America.

Power can be more seducing than money or sex and because of this, more morally bankrupt politicians are finding their way to Washington.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is often disregarding the Constitution in deciding issues that come before it, referring instead to foreign law or their own political beliefs to rewrite U.S. law from the bench.

If we can't rely on our elected officials while they say or do anything to secure votes, and our highest court pays mere lip service to America's founding documents, what are we to do?

More and more people are copying the actions of their leaders. People are doing whatever it takes to get by. Nearly thirty percent of the commerce in Southern California is in the underground economy President Reagan warned about. People are seeing their government disregard law and they are following suit.

If society is waiting for its leaders to set the example before righting itself, America may be in for a long, dark period in its history.